APS massacre, fall of Dhaka lessons for state: CJP Khosa

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa has said December 16 has some lessons for the state as it reminds the country of two tragedies — the fall of Dhaka and the Army Public School (APS) massacre.

Justice Khosa in his address to the National Police Academy in Islamabad talked about the incidents that compelled the state to introduce major changes in its policy. “Both these tragic events have some lessons for us,” the CJP said.

The CJP highlighted the APS tragedy shook the whole country and led the nation to look into the approaches that were being used by the state. “That [APS massacre] was the incident we realised enough is enough,” said CJP Khosa, adding the massacre also led to the formulation of National Action Plan against terrorism.

The CJP said another lesson was that when the country gets together on a single agenda then it can achieve anything. The top judge said there was a need for the country to once again look for the areas that unite the country and work on those areas.

On the fall of Dhaka, the CJP said: “if the state starts asserting itself too much then people breakaway from the social contract.” Justice Khosa said the state must safeguard the basic rights of the citizens and if the basic rights are not enforced, the existence of state becomes difficult.

The top judge said: “Time has come to rethink the approach of the police. Police should be perceived as a protector,” remarked Justice Khosa. The CJP also spoke about the reforms required to change the police and the reforms undertaken by the police reforms committee.